Phoenix Hotspur
=2013 Phoenix Hotspur was one of the USBA's inaugural clubs and has been a top-tier team ever since. Originally the Dallas Rangers the team moved from Dallas to Phoenix even before the completion ofthe first season. The new ownership group christened the relocated club Phoenix Hotspur after Englands Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Tottenham fans have a loyal following and a rough attitude. Two things management hoped would stick on the new team. During its short Dallas days the club has rampant success. Anchored around Don Brown and Edwin Ellis the team contended for the league title before the demoralizing change of ownership. Near the end of the inagural season management noticed changes were needed in order to sustain long term success in the Premier League. With this in mind management released, waived, traded, or let walk almost everyone with a large contract. Catcher Don Brown and Angel Vargas, and OF Aukukero Mincarlie were free agenst, Ellis was traded as was Blaine Bell. In the long-run Phoenix Hotspur was able to save nearly $80 million a season in bad contracts. 2014 Bill Grange and Arturo Hernandez were retained at much lower costs over the next few season saving the team even more money. This money was quickly Invested in players such as pitching ace Billy Crawford and catcher Pedro Cruz. 2014 became very much a transition year as the team failed to get into a groove and be in the top of the league. Crawford was less than stellar for most of the season leaving the pitching staff with a glaring hole and the offense was not much of a unit either. Phoenix would finish 7th and at points looked like they might be at risk of relegation. 2015 With more budget room left over Phoenix Hotspur further invested in OF Ken Norman and Jeff Sharp, 1B Im, and SP Junior Collins for the 2015. These moves gave Phoenix one of the elite teams in the USBA. With thier key off season additions 2015 saw PHX Hotspur off to a hot start. For most of the season Hotspur was neck and neck with Boston as the top club in the league. However, as the season dragged on the lack of offensive depth on the Phoenix squad became increasingly more apparent. Eventually his lack of depth caught up as the team played poorly in the last month of the season and missed out on a playoff spot. 2016 2016 saw the Spurs fall back to earth as the age of its pitching staff caught up to them. During the 2015-16 offseason Phoenix did manage to make many moves but few that would impact the club in the imediate future. The club double downed on depth and youth to manage a mid table finish. In the process they di mange to find a fair amount of cost controlled pieces and acquired some early draft picks that will help the club down the line. Spurs did make a go at a couple impact Free Agents but in almost every instance fell just short in the bidding. This extra money would end up being spent on a good haul of International Amatuer talent that wil arrive in Phoenix a few seasons. On the filed 2016 would be a season of many ups and downs. There were peiods of struggle and truimph. Spurs struggled early as RF Ken Norman went down with an injury and many on the teams older pitching staff and younger batter could not put it all together on a regular basis. The teams fortunes improved very much after the midseason acquisitions of Edgar Martinez and John Watson to solidify the faults in the pitching staff. In the end the team would roar a coupld positions up th etable falling just short of Lexington for the the 5th spot. Rookies 3b Norm Ortega and SS Raul Gonzalez both earned nominations and voted for Rokkie of the Year and solidified themselves as members of the squad for years to come. Seasons